Frederick A. Woodard, a Democrat. Cheatham ran against Woodard again in 1894 without success. In 1896, he competed for the Republican nomination for the district against his brother-in-law, George Henry White, who won as the next (and last) late nineteenth-century black congressman from North Carolina. Later life In 1897, President William McKinley's administration appointed Cheatham as federal Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia, a prestigious and lucrative patronage position which he held through 1901 and the change in administrations. Cheatham, a friend and ally of Booker T. Washington, was criticized for standing by McKinley, as the Republican administration did little to offset the rising tide of Jim Crow racism and segregation in the South. New state constitutions were passed in the South from 1890 to 1908 that disfranchised black citizens for more than half a century, but their provisions generally survived US Supreme Court review. If one provision was declared unconstitutional, Southern states passed new ones to create new obstacles. After four years in Washington, D.C., Cheatham returned to farm in Littleton, North Carolina. He moved to Oxford when appointed as superintendent of the state Colored Orphan Asylum, which was located there. He served in that position for 28 years. Cheatham had supported the state legislation to establish the orphanage in 1883, as part of Reconstruction-era programs to provide for the welfare of people. He "was its superintendent and to him more than any man, is due the credit for the remarkable progress and development of the institution." He died in Oxford in 1935. Known as an educated, discreet, and diplomatic man, Cheatham impressed even the white-supremacist Democrat Josephus Daniels. He said that he regarded Cheatham highly as a man who had gained the confidence of both races. See also Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era List of African-American United States representatives References External links North Carolina Historical Marker African American Registry From American National Biography, published by Oxford University Henry P. Cheatham, "What One of the Race's Most Powerful Leaders Says of President McKinley's Administration", Ohio History Cheatham's 1884 marriage license 1909 Annual Report of the Colored Orphan Asylum, Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina History of Central Children's Home, formerly Colored Orphan Asylum "Henry P. Cheatham", Baptist Magazine, American Memory, Library of Congress 1857 births 1935 deaths People from Henderson, North Carolina African-American people in North Carolina politics Shaw University alumni African-American members of the United